


The Queen of Beggars

by brohne



Category: Thief (Video Games)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-09
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 04:09:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1290766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brohne/pseuds/brohne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of drabbles centering around the Queen of Beggars.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Awakening

Soft warm furry bodies scurried over her feet and skittered across the stone floor. Their soft squeaks a pleasant background noise as she contemplates. The abandoned church is quiet except for her rats. One of them scurries up her leg and onto her lap where it burrows into the loose folds of her ragged dress. She taps its head gently with a finger and it nibbles at her nail before nipping her. There is the faintest tremor in the stone under her feet. The squeaks stop. Silence reigns.

“Something has happened.” She mutters to herself. All at once furious squeaks and squeals echo through the space. There is an odd chill in the air and the warm briny tang from the sea is curiously missing. The soft breeze of only moments ago having stilled. Pushing herself up in her chair she grips the armrests for a moment. The rat in her lap squeaks and scrambles down tiny nails pulling at her dress. Her bones ache and she contemplates remaining seated. There is a soft sigh of cloth and a footstep to her right. A firm hand grips her arm supporting her as she rises to her feet. The subtle scent of warm leather and threadbare cotton reaches her. It’s comforting as an old quilt but it doesn’t dispel the unease threading its way through her joints.

“Send for the others, something has happened tonight.”


	2. Dead Bodies Don't Bleed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been nearly a year...

The shuffling of feet alerted her. The rats chittered as the acrid stench of blood assailed her.  
“What happened?”  
“We found a body ma’am, out by the docks.”  
“A body?” She got to her feet. The scent of blood was fresh. Dead bodies don’t bleed. “Bring it here.”  
More shuffling and the squelch of wet fabric as the body was placed at her feet. She shooed away a rat as it tried to clamber down her arm and onto the body. Running a careful hand down the lean frame she grimaced. There was the slightest rise and fall of his chest. Deft fingers found his face and the frown deepened. She knew this man, knew the sharp angles of his face but the scar is new.  
“Garret…” She barely breathed the word. “Where have you been?”  
Straightening she shook out her robes. “Bring me hot water and clean cloths. I need blankets. Once I have those things you are all to leave me.”  
“But ma’am-“ She turned toward the voice and he stuttered to a stop. “Y-yes ma’am.”  
Once she was alone, she took her time. Wet cloth splatted on the stone floor as she cut it loose. Her fingers trembled ever so slightly as she found the wounds around his wrists. He had struggled against restraints for some time judging by the delicate webbing of crisscrossing scars under her fingertips. The fresh wounds are shallow but long, she had no idea what could have caused them. He didn’t move as she bound them, didn’t utter a sound as she carefully set the broken fingers and bandaged them. By the time she’d seen to all the wounds her body trembled with fatigue. She sank to the floor next to him her knees and lower back aching. Feeling around for the blanket she drew it up over the quiescent form. Questions tumbled around in her mind. Questions that would need answering soon enough. For now though, it would not do to leave him here. Too many enemies. Too many eyes and ears that wished him harm.


	3. The More Things Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garret comes looking for answers...

She didn’t need to hear him to know he was there. The subtle shift in the atmosphere like a cloth being drawn over her skin was enough. She didn’t hear him, she heard the way her beggars and rats reacted to him. It had been a while since she’d last felt his presence. She wasn’t sure if he remembered her, he’d still been in that strange sleep state when she’d sent him with her beggars. She’d lost good men keeping him safe. She hoped the sacrifice was worth it. Somehow this man would bring the change that the City so desperately needed. He would be the one to restore the balance of the primal. If he found the courage to face what had happened and chose to listen.  
Picking up the knight off the chessboard she held it for a moment. “It’s a lonely night.”  
“The best kind.”   
She couldn’t help the small smile at the sound of his voice. Turning she picked up a tea cup and the pot to pour him a drink.  
“Ah Garrett, you walk a path few people would wish.”  
His voice was closer but no other sound betrayed his whereabouts. “It’s the only one I know.”  
“Quite…” She held out the tea cup, the soft shuff of leather on stone letting her know he was nearly within arm’s reach. Her arm trembled the cup rattling in it’s saucer as she waited for him to take it. He finally took it though she noted he was careful not to touch her.  
“You know what they say about me…?” She paused.  
“That you know everything that happens in this city?”   
“Not everything. Just the important things.” Though important to whom was the larger question. She did know many things, things that some would kill to keep hidden. She at forward the overpowering urge to get up in the face of what she knew was coming winning out. She knew what he wanted to know. She hated to disappoint him. She nodded to her beggar as he came to assist her. The clack of the saucer on the table told her Garrett had set it down, without drinking any of it from the sound of it. She paused and turned.  
“What brings you here? Seeking my counsel?”  
He didn’t speak for a moment but she heard movement. Was he agitated? Was that why he hesitated?  
“A year ago I was at the Northcrest mansion.” The confident tone was gone. “Something went wrong…”  
She nodded. She knew where this was going all too well. It had been the beginning of everything.  
“What happened to me…what happened to Erin?”  
He was not going to like her answer. “A year ago…men who believed themselves to know best tried to control something they didn’t fully understand for their own ends. The balance has shifted, we can all feel it.”  
She reached out hoping to assuage at least some of his worry. The scent of leather and rain wafted by as he avoided her his voice tight.  
“That’s your answer?”  
She closed her eyes for a moment. She hadn’t meant to upset him, but there was only so much she could tell him. Some things he would have to discover for himself.  
“When my beggars found you, after the accident, they thought you were dead! But you were not dead. So we healed your broken body, and brought you from the city to…to keep you safe while we waited. But then, just after the gloom started, something began to wake you. It was time for you to return home.” She reached out and her beggar took her arm and helped guide her to her vanity. “This city grows sick. It will tell you all in time, if you choose to listen.”  
There was no answer from him, but she knew he was still there. She gave him the only advice she could. “Careful Garrett, there are worse thing in the dark than you.”


End file.
